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Beyond Recognition
Beyond Recognition ''is the fifth studio album by 404 (named Keeponrockin404 at the time of release). The album was originally uploaded to YouTube on December 10, 2015 and was released to bandcamp that same day. No singles were released from the album. Background The previous two albums, ''Provoke Habit ''and ''Happy Pills, featured extensive amounts of singing and conventional melodies. Neither of these albums were received well, and Louis began to lose favor with them as well. Growing tired of creating normal songs and singing on every track, Louis took inspiration mostly from the band Death Grips and decided to venture into a more experimental direction. This was how Beyond Recognition ''was born. He decided that he wanted to push himself to see how weird and dark he could get with his music, while also honing his abilities into a more cohesive work. Before the album was released, a tweener E.P. was released to bridge the gap between ''Happy Pills ''and ''Beyond Recognition ''entitled ''Addendum E.P. Recording and Production During the recording process of the album, Louis wanted to make the weirdest and eeriest instrumentals that he could think to make. The songs became more drenched in reverb, adding to their atmosphere. The electronic sounds chosen for the songs were often not what sounded the best, but rather what sounded the strangest. Louis began to apply effects to his vocals, most commonly using a delay effect to make the vocals echo. Louis was spending more time orchestrating the songs than before. He would often sift through instruments after he had already decided on which ones to use to see if any sounded more interesting. Along with that, he would also alter sections of the songs after they had already been completed to weird them up a bit more. Music and Lyrics ''Beyond Recognition ''is an experimental hip hop album with elements of industrial and even noise at points. The album is full of ear-grating synths and abrasive sounds. The songs all sound dark and occasionally dreary. Louis sings on a few songs, but for the most part he raps over these beats. He also takes a spoken word approach on other tracks. The songs are gritty and experimental, focusing on creating weird sounds and eerie atmospheres. The album contains two instrumental tracks, "Broken Toe" and "Aimless Journey to Nowhere," both of which sort of bookend the album, one with two tracks before it and the other with two tracks after. This isn't the first time that Louis has included instrumental interludes on his album, but it was the first time he had done this thoughtfully. Lyrically, the album is both very dark as well as slightly comedic. There is a notable sense of humor to many of the tracks, like the comedic story told on "I Did It to Forget" or the obnoxious sounds of "Take a Day Off." However, the album has very dark lyrical themes as well. The songs "Step Ahead" and "Ugly Secret" both tell stories, one about a minimum wage worker who kills herself on the job, and the other about a stalker who takes a liking to a girl he meets online. For the most part, the lyrics match the dark tones that the instrumentals provide. Album Art The album artwork for ''Beyond Recognition ''is a heavily distorted photo of a broken swinging bench. The image is grating on the eyes and is covered in visual noise, which is a parallel to the sound of the music on the album. The text on the art contrasts against the grain in a very unpleasant way as well. 2016 Remastered Edition On the one-year anniversary of the album, a remastered version of the album was released to bandcamp along with a limited edition CD release of the new edit. The remaster mostly works to correct the mixing errors on the original album, often turning down the volume of the vocals or of any other instruments that were overpowering in the original mix. Track Listing Personnel Louis Falgout - Vocals, production, writerCategory:Albums